The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse by Helen Ward

A gorgeously illustrated and poetically written classic, set in a 1930s-era city at Christmastime

Rediscover the tale of the simple country mouse, magically retold by Helen Ward. Beguiled by his cousin’s amazing tales, the country mouse visits the electric city. Unfortunately the town mouse forgot to mention that the city has a lot of noise, tall buildings . . . and dangerous dogs! Helen Ward’s 1930s New York at Christmas is at once gorgeous and frighteningly busy. In the end the reader understands both why the town mouse loves his exciting life and why the country mouse is content with his peaceful home.

Helen Ward won the first Walker Prize for Children's Illustration and twice won the British National Art Library Award. She has also been short-listed for the 2003 Kate Greenaway Medal. She lives in Gloucestershire, England.

Unrated Critic Reviews for The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

Kirkus Reviews

Country mouse “live[s] a quiet life among the seasons.” He is perfectly content until his “fine, sleek” town cousin comes to visit, criticizes the mud and dangerous wildlife (a sleeping fawn, in the illustration), and boasts about the city’s “rich, exotic foods.” Urging his cousin to see the wond...

Publishers Weekly

When winter comes, the country cousin journeys to a glittering metropolis circa 1930, âwhere the cold sky met great towers of smooth stone and glass.â The town mouse lives in an opulent high-rise, where the mice dart through an overrich Christmas banquet, pursued by a pug in a party hat: âA...

City Book Review

Then one morning, his cousin arrived for a visit… a fine, sleek city mouse with a lot to say.”
My favorite part about this book is when the mouse goes to the city to visit his cousin, and when the country mouse can finally go back to bed.